Agenda and minutes

The Speaker of the Council MOVED, the Deputy Speaker SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2022 be confirmed and signed as a true and accurate record.

Cllr Burgess declared a non-pecuniary interest, having worked with the Fight the Anti Refugee Law coalition.

In addition to the five written announcements, the Speaker invited Councillor Tam to pay tribute to Moira Kerrane, a well-known community activist in Evelyn Ward, who had recently died.

No petitions were received.

Councillor Best referenced a petition that she had submitted in advance of the meeting, concerning the felling of a tree. The petition was with the Monitoring Officer to consider its acceptability from a legal and constitutional point of view.

Councillor Olaru MOVED, Councillor Wise seconded and it was RESOLVED that the following amendments to the Constitution take effect immediately:

Proper Officer

1.    The Chief Executive remains the defined Proper Officer as currently defined in the Constitution with the exception of the following:

a.    Any matters currently designated to other officers in the current Constitution

b.    All Proper Officer designations that relate to procedural or administrative matters regarding formal meetings of the Council are amended to be the responsibility of the Monitoring Officer

2.    The Monitoring Officer retains an up to date record of all Proper Officer designations, including any delegations by the named Proper Officer and the up to date record is published on the Council’s website.

Council Questions

1.    Public and member questions remain in the Council Procedure Rules;

2.    Public questions are limited to two questions per member of the public and each question limited to 100 words;

3.    The time limit for public questions remains at 30 minutes;

4.    Member questions are limited to two questions per member and each question limited to 100 words;

5.    The time limit for member questions remains at 30 minutes;

6.    The provisions relating to order of questions, notice of questions, scope of questions, disallowing questions, record of questions, supplementary questions and the absence of the questioner remain as currently provided.

Cabinet Appointments

1.    The provisions relating to confirmatory hearings in the Executive Procedure Rules (Rule 2(b) refers) are removed.

Definition of Key Decision

1.    Any decision with a total value, expenditure or savings, including any grant and/or matched funding, with a total value in excess of:

a.    £700,000 in revenue; or

b.    £1.5m in capital; or

c.    A property transaction, disposal or acquisition, in excess of £1.5m.

2.    Any decision that, in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer, has a significant impact on the communities in two or more wards;

3.    Where the Speaker on advice from the Head of Paid Service and/or Monitoring Officer and/or Chief Finance Officer is of the view that the matter is one which ought properly to be treated as a key decision, and informs the proper officer to that effect at least 6 weeks before the decision is in the opinion of the Monitoring Officer likely to be taken.

The financial thresholds will be adjusted annually, on 1st April to reflect any movement in the Consumer Prices Index.

The Council also noted that the Monitoring Officer will ensure the terminology used in the Constitution is appropriate and also ‘tidy up’ any minor spelling, grammatical and formatting errors.

The Mayor MOVED, Councillor De Ryk SECONDED and it was RESOLVED to:

1.    Adopt the Corporate Strategy 2022-26, replacing the 2018- 2022 Corporate Strategy; and

2.    Delegate any further updates and amendments to the Corporate Strategy to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Mayor.

122 questions were received from members of the public and were answered. A copy of the questions and answers can be viewed on the Council website with the meeting papers.

Thirty minutes were set aside at the meeting for questioners to raise supplementary questions.

14 questions were received from members of the Council and were answered by the relevant cabinet member. A copy of the questions and answers can be viewed on the Council website with the meeting papers.

Thirty minutes were set aside at the meeting for questioners to raise supplementary questions.

Motions were taken in the following order, which different from the printed order on the agenda:

Motion 1 – Cost of Living Emergency

Councillor De Ryk MOVED, Councillor Olaru SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the motion be carried.

Motion 2 – Rent Cap

Councillor Penfold MOVED, Councillor Cooper SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the motion be carried.

Motion 3 – Refugees

Councillor Campbell MOVED, Councillor Shrivastava SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the motion be carried.

Motion 4 – Southeastern trains

Councillor Warner MOVED, Councillor Huynh SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the motion be carried.

Motion 5 – Net Zero

Councillor Royston MOVED, Councillor Curran SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that the motion be carried.